My Treat
by mynameisweird
Summary: She asked him the same damn question every single day. He gave her the coldest answer he could muster. In the end, a yes or no, he had nothing to lose and nothing to gain. "Sasuke teme! You want some ramen? My treat!" ::FemNaru::
1. Stupid Boy

_Well, she was precious…like a flower_

_She grew wild, wild_

_But Innocent_

He met her after the biggest blizzard in Tokyo's history. Finding her face and hair caked with mud, she gleefully jumped into the brown slush. Her laugh rang loudly in the playground, his ears wincing softly at the boisterousness of it all. She looked up with those happy blue eyes, blond hair pressing against tan cheeks.

He frowned. She was different than the rest.

Her hands gave innocent waves, darkened by the mud and shining from the slime. He only stared as she walked away, drudging in an orange jumpsuit that hurt his eyes and was too big for the small girl's frame. He saw her skip over to the three misfits that seemed to hang near a tree. The three misfits that happened to be part of his elite class, though he would never have included them into his own group.

Once he formed one.

She reached to take the hand of another muddy boy, his smile resembling that of an innocent pup. They eagerly pointed at a big puddle of brown mud, planning their next adventure within it. A small chubby boy shyly joined in, swirls on his cheeks covered from the latest stain of chocolate from snack time. His clothing had met the same fate as his cheeks. He pointed in the direction of the puddle and then grabbed his best friend from behind him. A lazy boy with shoulders hunched, letting out a small moan of annoyance from being interrupted from doing anything. The girls grabbed him as well.

The black-haired 5 year old smirked at the grimace on lazy boy's face as he felt the slimy hand grab his. But knowing him, it would be too troublesome to do anything about it. She grabbed his hand tightly as the other took the one from chubby boy's. Dog boy had latched his own muddy hand to the free hand from chubby boy's. The mischievous smiles never leaving their faces as they prepared for the fun to begin.

3…2…1

They ran as fast as they could, feet leaping in the air. A wall of brown water surrounded them as it cascaded into rain drops on them. Cheeks once again draining with dirty water, clothing soaked to the bone, and laughter making him wince.

_A perfect prayer in a desperate hour_

_She was everything beautiful and different…_

The girl tossed her hair back as she hugged dog boy and kept him in the water. She lifted herself off, shaking off the droplets that wouldn't stick to her clothing and draining it from her hair. The blonde's eyes met his and he saw those happy eyes once again.

She gave another shy wave with a wet hand and went back to the three stooges to help them up. She jumped up and down, constantly bragging how her jump was the biggest and the drenched blond hair as the proof of it all. Hearing a small murmur of the word troublesome, a shriek of 'Kiba, stop shaking like a dog, a complaint for more cookies, and a retort of 'we just had some, Chouji,' the raven gave a small 'hn' and walked toward the school building, focusing on the sound of crunched snow instead of the loud annoying blonde as she gave another idea that would most likely end her into deeper trouble than she was in.

Uzumaki Naru was nothing but trouble and that was one thing in his life that he didn't need.

_Stupid boy…_

__

She was 12 when they had officially met. Side by side with the three other misfits, she had taken her seat in the back of the class to find a clear hideout for secret conversations and future pranks. Consequently, it was a seat that had been put by his side. Sasuke frowned.

He was desperate not to have her near him. He would have taken Sakura or even Ino besides her.

The screech of a seat interrupted his forlorn thoughts as his eyes moved to the girl next to him, lazy boy taking her other side and chatting away with fatso. She wore that similar jumpsuit that been twice her size at the age of five; now fitting comfortably around her older frame.

It still hurt his eyes though.

Unlike the muddy girl he was use to, she was somehow able to stay clean. Her hair had continued to stay in its messy ponytail, tangled and curly strands framing her high cheeks. Her hands, though no longer caked with mud and dirt, were painted with cuts and bruises from a recent escapade of firefly catching he had seen her done with her sidekicks yesterday. Her blue eyes were still their annoying happy baby blue and they got even happier the more she chatted with her friends.

It was much easier and less irritating to focus on the sky outside his window than to even engage with the girl.

_Stupid boy…_

_You can't fence that in…_

_Stupid boy…_

_It's like holding back the wind_

He jumped at the warm hand on his naked arm and jerked his head with a glare in his eyes. Eyes and mouth shined with happiness, unaffected by the cold demeanor. The smile turned into a wide grin as the blonde gave him an over enthusiastic wave. The three boys watched with amusement.

"Hi! I'm Uzumaki Naru! These are my best friends: Nara Shikamaru, Inuzuka Kiba, and Akimichi Chouji."

She didn't start it with a blush, a twirl of her hair, stuttering, or even a 'you may not remember me.' It was as if she had never seen him before in her whole life. That they had never shared the same daycare, kindergarten, and elementary school class, never played in the same playgrounds, or even shared the same invitations to certain formal events with his parents and brother and _her_ grandparents. His eyes widened at this, wondering if it was from shock or the stupidity for the girl not to know who he was. Even his name was an indicator that he belonged to an elite class in Tokyo.

Might as well make her regret her words.

"Uchiha Sasuke," he snapped, darkening his onyx eyes as far as he could go, "I like nothing and hate a lot of things. One of them is silly blonde girls who wear orange jumpsuits for boys."

The smile was wiped off the happy face and he toasted his success. He was half expecting her to cry and rush into any of the waiting arms of her three dead-last friends and complain of his meanness. His eyes shifted to said friends, as they watched with amusement and the fatso one with a bit of worry. Dog boy had a sly grin on his face as if he was getting ready for something good, and the lazy one seemed to muster a look between a glare and one of amusement.

His eyes made their way back to Blondie, widening at how close their faces were. Her baby blue had darkened to a deep navy and soft dimples decorated an angry face. Her fists were clenched tightly, pale white knuckles contrasting against her tan. She raised herself from her seat, her hair covering half her face as a murderous gaze set upon him.

His eyes penetrated the same feeling back and before he could prepare his ears for their funeral—

"What did you say about silly blonde girls, you bastard?"

She lunged with all the strength a twelve year old girl could have. She screamed to the top of her lungs as her hands made their way to his throat in an effort to strangle him.

"Get off of me, you loser," he shouted as he squeezed her wrists tight. He barely heard the sounds of screeching chairs as her friends and others in the class lifted themselves up to see the fight between a simpleton and an elite class student, he barely heard an even more annoying screech of 'Naru you idiot, get off of poor Sasuke-kun' from an incoming group of girls, and the shout of annoyed teacher as he felt her being pulled off.

Lifting himself off the ground, he watched as she struggled in the professor's arms.

"Let me at him! That bastard is going to get it! Let me go, Iruka-sensei!" Her wailing legs and arms didn't stop as she was dragged back to her seat, a gentle hand from the teacher on her shoulder until she was reduced to a death glare and pout on her lips. He heard Shikamaru murmur a small 'troublesome' before patting his friend on her shoulder and Chouji offering some chips as a condolence prize. Kiba gave her words of praise, saying she was the first girl ever to take on an Uchiha.

Sasuke groaned at that…Great…

Roll calls, explanations of their schedules, and soft giggles as many students made fun of their teachers consisted of Sasuke's first day of school. When Naru wasn't busy engaging with her friends of future breaks, she would glare at him and childishly stick out her tongue if he even gave her an eye roll. The sound of the bell at the end of the day was heaven letting its angels sing.

_She laid her heart and soul right in your hands_

_And you stole her every dream and you crushed her plans_

Old enough to make his way back home, he opened the door from the front of the building, making his way pass the swooning fan girls, and to the unlocked gate. He heard a giggle as Naru skipped her way toward the three morons and chatted about a new prank she would pull on Iruka-sensei the next day. As if she felt his gaze, her eyes traveled to him, but instead of cold as steal, they were as hard as iron.

He watched her make her way towards him and debates whether he should make a run for it (cowardly) or stay where he was with a glare on his face (just plain stupid). He watched her step up to him, back strengthened and hands behind her back.

"What do you want, loser," he started off. Naru's shoulder tensed as an itch overwhelmed her hands to punch the pretty boy in the face. Removing the dimples from her face, she gave a prideful smile and even taller stance for her short size.

"I won't be affected by your words, Sasuke-teme," she started, "I am here to give you a second chance and want to treat ya for ramen," the pain on her face made it sure this was difficult for her, "My treat."

_She never knew she had a choice_

_And that's what happens when the only voice she hears is telling her she can't_

"I hate ramen" was the hammer hitting the nail on its head. He watched as her facial expressions went from shock, to horror, and rage.

"Fine! See if I ever ask you to join me for ramen again, you bastard!" He winced at the loudness of her voice as she stomped over to her friends once more, looking back only once to stick out her tongue as a last act of defiance.

Sasuke shook his head and made his way out of the gate. He could hear the words of 'Sasuke-teme' surround him. With a heavy groan, he had a horrible feeling he would be hearing those words as long as Naru Uzumaki was in his class and in his life.

_Stupid boy…stupid boy_

__

Thirteen was a rite of passage many of his classmates were passing. Naru was a huge exception. She still had that personality that would make anyone want to slit their throat and the thought of her becoming a woman made Sasuke cringe at the idea.

He had come to tolerate her and her quirky ways, albeit on a thin line. He would constantly hear her babble her way of her many adventures she would have in her grandparents' backyard and her successful mission in making another person's life miserable. The chatting would die when class began, but she seemed to make him be reluctantly included when it was brought up once more.

For reasons unknown, she had made her way to stick by his side with great disdain.

He was included in conversations, most being arguments between the two of them. When he sat in lunch, she would claim that this was where her, Kiba, Shikamaru, and Chouji sat for lunch no matter how many times he tried to move to a different table. When she would talk loudly of her dream to the biggest person Tokyo has ever known, he couldn't help but comment on her weight (how was he to know with that baggy jumpsuit of hers) and another flying of fists in the air.

Despite that, he was included and he couldn't find himself resisting it.

"What a drag," yawned Shikamaru, "This room gets hotter every day." He lazily fanned his sweat forehead, not bothering to push back the brown hair that fell from his tied ponytail.

"It's almost summer time, Pineapple Head. Which reminds me, Grandma Tsunade and Grandpa Jiraiya made some ice cream for after school. Wanna come over?" Shikmaru actually made an effort to nod while the two other boys almost seemed to kiss the feet of the girl for saving their lives.

"Hey, loser, aren't you hot in that ridiculous outfit," Sasuke murmured as he brushed his hand on his perspired forehead and stare at amusement at the flushed cheeks and huffed face of his 'enemy.'

"Shut it, you bastard! It might be summer, but it's still cold enough to wear this."

"Says the girl who told Shikamaru it was summer," laughed Kiba, earning him a fist to the tip of his head.

"Shut up, Dog Breath! Fine, I'll take the thing off."

"Whatever," Shikamaru yawned as he hunched his body deeper in the chair to feel the slightly cool metal against his back. Chouji shrugged and Kiba sported his doggy grin while rubbing the sore spot on his head.

_So what made you think you could take a life_

_And just push it and push it around?_

Unzipping the orange jacket, she shed the heavy coat to reveal a blue tank-top and caprice underneath. Her arms, tan and thin, and those khakis barely showing the same russet skin on her boyish hips. Sasuke's eyes traveled from the grouchy face and down the body, stopping at the small, miniature mounds that rested on her chest, barely visible if it wasn't for that tight shirt. Sasuke's gaze rested there as he stared at the attributes that would make Naru a woman in a physical sense. They were nothing of impressive standpoint. He had caught himself once staring at Ino and Sakura's chest to see bigger mounds than the ones he was looking at know.

Their pathetic size however made his stomach churn. His gaze from those petite hills made their way to the flat stomach, most likely as smooth as the shirt that laid on top of it. He swallowed a dry breath as his throat began clogging any way to get air in and out. Naru, bless her naïve nature, barely saw those lingering eyes as she focused on the board in front of her, annoyance written on her face.

Tiny valleys, smooth surface, and coffee skin filled Sasuke's mind like a chant, a record with scratches that would repeat the same word over and over. His eyes to transfixed on the easily-comparable body, that he failed to see the Inuzuka kid's grin widen and eyes burn with a somewhat perverted look a thirteen year old shouldn't even possess.

"Like what you see, Uchiha?" His reverie broke and his eyes jerked to the dead-lasts to see that evil smirk on Kiba's face. Chouji, with all his innocence, had only a confused look. It was Shikamaru's half-closed eye gaze though that made him read a silent message.

Following a long yawn, the brunette cloud gazer's eyes became hard with an 'I-know-she-is-my-friend-but-it-would-be-a-drag-to-kick-your-ass-so-stop-staring-at-my-friends-developing-boobs-before-I-stab-your-eyes out' look before settling for another yawn and tossing his head back. He gazed at Naru, who had a confused look similar to Chouji's as she sat even straighter in her seat and kept with Sasuke's gaze.

When had her eyes become a sea blue and when had her lips become a pretty pink?

Stop it, Uchiha! An heir like you shouldn't think that way for some average blondie!

"Nothing to compare her too, Inuzuka," Sasuke smirked, "I've seen a billion times better than what I see right now. So, Uzumaki, you ever thought of stuffing?"

"SASUKE-TEME!"

Blocking the punch his way, he congratulated himself in pulling his way out of this problem.

_I guess to build yourself up so high_

_You had to take her and break her down_

Argument put aside after failed attempts to bruise him, Naruto settled with a discussion on ice cream and some ramen when they arrived to her home.

"Ne, Sasuke-teme, want to go to my place for ramen? My treat!" The other three rolled their eyes at the statement, knowing full well the answer to come next.

"Dobe," Sasuke murmured as his eyes focused on the book in front of him, "You know I hate ramen."

"Fine, you asshole, see if I ever invite you again!"

She will.

Fourteen years old and seasons changing.

It was a crisp autumn day when she told him she would be leaving with her grandparents to China for some business trip of their library. Pervy Grandpa's pervy books had somehow become best sellers in the large country and there was a call to expand the book's business there despite Granny Tsunade's protest. She had claimed that she would only be gone for two years and constantly reassured her groups of boys (minus Sasuke) that she would continuously write them.

On the day before she would leave, all four students had taken the only girl of their dysfunctional group to a small fair at Konoha High School that was open for the public. Her eyes twinkled as she bounced up and down after looking at the rides and games. Sasuke shook his head at the immaturity but no one could miss the thin smile grazing his lips.

His parents all but forced him to join into the group's activity when they had shown up at his mansion, somehow making their way pass the security guards. When the word friends left Naru's lips, there was no stopping his mother, father, and brother from suggesting he go with them and stuffing his pockets with more money than needed for a trip to an amateur fair by low-class students.

Despite attempts to tell them that the three morons weren't his friends and the biggest moron of them all wasn't his girlfriend, he was shoved out of the confines of his home and family (traitors) and standing in a blinding torture of sights and sounds.

He felt a warm hand grab him and felt a thin tan arm interlock with his pale one. Naru giggled up at him as she guided him toward one of the rides Kiba had picked to go on. A one with high hills, fast speed, and quick turns. Sasuke was dragged to one of the carts, shaking his head at the bouncing ball of sun next to him.

"This is higher than I thought," Naru commented, biting her lip as she watched the coaster incline even higher. The raven smirked at the obvious nervous tension in his fr-enemy.

"Scared, loser?"

"No and don't call me loser, you bastard!"

The cut in the blood circulation made his arm numb as he felt the arms wrap around it and the blonde's head snuggle into Sasuke's arm.

_Well, she laid her heart and soul right in your hands_

Preventing the heat on his face to get any warmer, he shrugged her off.

"Get off of me, you wimp! I can't believe you're scared of some sissy ride!" He watched her settle to clutching the steel handles as her legs began trembling.

He found himself the clutch the minute the cars began to fall. In each ride, the big and the small, he found himself wrapped in warm arms and a head snuggling in his chest. She was a bad cold, unable to shake her off no matter how many times he shoved her away.

"Let go of me you wimp." It had become a sort of catchphrase throughout the night of rides. Each shove, each hit, and even a fist to the head wouldn't shake her off.

_And you stole her every dream and you crushed her plans_

After a few games, Chouji winning her a stuffed fox, Kiba a stuffed dog, and Shikamaru, claiming it was too troublesome to play a carnival game, buying her a mood ring, the end came with insults thrown her way of a coward she was. Shikamaru stared with interest as a Uchiha bombarded her with complaints and insults, eyes drifting to Naru to see her own retorts and insults of her own. She occasionally pushed him back or give him a silent treatment for a span of 5 seconds before settling to their frequent arguments once more.

Seriously, this bothersome thing would end if they just shut up and kiss, Shikamaru sighed. Well, he wasn't getting involved in it.

They made their way toward their respective homes, meeting on a corner. All three morons gave their head moron a tight hug, asking her a final time if she will promise to call and write. When the answers finally satisfied them, they gave Sasuke the responsibility to escort her home. Arriving at her grandparents' measly apartment, Sasuke bit back a comment as Naru opened the door with a key.

"Sasuke," the blond spoke, her voice for once a tiny whisper, "Do you want to come in for some ramen? My treat."

Sasuke felt his hands automatically clasp the cloth within his pockets, soaking them with sweat he didn't know had perspired. He gazed back up, the stubborn and annoyed look radiating his pale features once more.

"Dobe, you know I don't like ramen." A squeeze on her shoulder was the closest thing he would ever come in hugging her and he smirked at the annoyed look on her face and the roll in her eyes. She said her goodnight and a final criticism of his dislike for Ramen before shutting the door and locking it tight. Sasuke sighed gently.

This was good. He wouldn't have to put up with her for two years. Two years of forgetting the existence of the color orange, two years of that loud voice that made his ears torture, and two years of that blonde-haired blue-eyed freak being as far away as continents would allow.

The pain in his chest deepened. He knew he shouldn't have eaten the chili dog the morons had given him.

_She never even knew she had a choice_

__

He and the idiots had transferred their way into Konoha Academy for the Elite, not to be compared (and rightly so) with Konoha High School. Because the three were heirs and part of the elite class as well, it seemed obvious that they would enter the high school he was destined for. A high school with fan girls that were ten times worse than in secondary schools. He didn't know why he had stuck to them after Naru had left to China. Any connection, especially her friends, should have been broken the minute he was free from her presence.

But here he was, stepping out of his car and locking it up safely. A loud rumble from behind him made it known that Kiba and his trash he called a motorcycle had arrived. A cough from an engine, the vehicle was turned off.

"Hey, Uchiha, have ya been receiving cards from Naru?"

He did and to be honest, he knew she shouldn't bother. It started out like most of her letters, the excitement ringing at what she saw, heard, and did in China and a question on how he was doing. He would right back anything that would pop up and always leave note saying not to bother writing to him.

They weren't close. Not Kiba, Shikamaru, or Chouji close.

To make his point even clearer, he had stopped writing but the letters hadn't stop coming.

"Hn." A yes and he heard Kiba snort, a sound that came across on why his friend even bothered with someone like him. Someone she had now officially declared a friend. Before Kiba could voice the words out loud, heavy panting came from Chouji as he rushed to greet his friend and acquaintance. Catching his breath, a smile lit his face up and he was bouncing on his heels.

"What's up, Cho?"

"She's here! Shikamaru is headed toward the front gate to see her. She's here!" Kiba's eyes widen at the words as he and Chouji began taking off to the school's entrance, forgetting the raven as he stared after them. Stuffing his hands in his dark jeans, he knew he would hear from it later if he wasn't one of the first to greet her.

Breaking his way past fan girls and the student body in whole, the sight was enough to make sore eyes heal.

There, standing in front of him, was a girl in short shorts, a tight t-shirt, and blond hair cascading down her back in waves, tied in a half ponytail and half free-fall. Her tan skin seemed to glow in the sun as her blue eyes shined it's Caribbean sea. The muscles in his mouth slackened and he felt his jaw drop from its usual position. She hugged the three boys tightly, each of them holding her for a few minutes to make sure she had returned and she was here to stay. Even Shikamaru mustered the energy for a hug. Sasuke stepped down and when the eyes landed on him, he felt his jaw slacken on him at the close up at the beauty.

"Sasuke," Naru smiled at him and embraced him tightly. He lips tighten as he felt the flat, yet hard stomach press against his own, a much larger set of mounds than the ones he had gazed at the age of thirteen press against his chest, and the aroma of sweet lavender dance around him teasingly. He gently pushed her away.

"Great to have you back, loser." An attempted punch and slap was easily blocked again.

She had settled down during their lunch period to tell them off her travels in China and her plans now that she was back. Naru was never good in grades. She had barely passed secondary school with the rest of her losers and receive the lowest marks in every class. However, when it came to physical activity, her dominance was thriving. Any sport made her life, especially with those involving mud and water. Konoha Academy was known for their skyrocket tuition, but Naru was greeted with bear hugs as she told them she would be joining them under a sports scholarship. Sasuke grimaced at this. He knew he would never escape her.

But at least she had begun to make a greater amount of friends so her attention wasn't merely focused on him for the time being. Rock Lee was the first of new friends. He was hyper and annoying, she was hyper annoying. The similarities couldn't be more fitting for new friends. Sakura and Ino had long since forgotten their hatred for the girl once they saw her long golden hair and began swapping ideas of certain female issues that he and the morons were relieved not to be a part of. She may have been their friend (they being the three morons), but she was still a girl who had already hit her fair dose of puberty.

The Hyuuga heir was another close friendship Naru had formed and although she had an extreme shy nature, the girl enjoyed Naru's friendship and became her best girlfriend. TenTen soon became a part of the group due to her tomboyish nature she possessed that was similar to Naru's. Both girls also happened to be part of the same teams at the Academy and it was through TenTen that Naruto was able to make friends with Neji, Hinata's cousin and TenTen's boyfriend, along with another friend named Shino. The whole group of them, nine in total connected by one small and annoying blonde.

Sasuke groaned at this ever large group. His parents would have a field day with this.

But despite this irritation, he had never stopped his eyes from gazing at her, his stomach warming and skin tingling as she ran the huge track field in her gym uniform. His swallowed the dry saliva clogged in his throat as he watched the sweat drop down her face and neck, wetting her hair to make it stick to her cheeks, the small bounce of her breasts that seemed to show even more as the shirt became a second skin to her body, and the long tan legs with strong hidden muscles beneath the smooth skin as she stretched on the soft grass. He cursed himself for this staring.

"Hey, Naru! Drink this before you collapse. It would be a drag to bring you home unconscious." Shikamaru through her water bottle as Kiba through her a towel he had around his shoulders. Smiling at the two boys, Sasuke watched the girl gulp the savoring liquid down her throat and use the towel to wipe her face. His eyes shifted to Shikamaru, Chouji, and Kiba, wondering if they were viewing the same thing he was.

Damnit.

Kiba was focus on a conversation with Hinata, Chouji was fighting to get his BBQ chips back from an angry Ino, and Shikamaru's eyes gave their attention to the clouds above him. Sasuke's eyes focused on them, furrowing with confusion at why they weren't seeing what he was seeing. His gaze caught onto Shikamaru who once again, spoke with those lazy mahogany pupils that read a 'yeah-she-is-a-woman-now-but-she-is-also-our-friend-so-quit-staring-like-she-is-some-piece-of-meat' look. With a loud yawn, the one-sided conversation had ended. Sasuke looked away, but his onyx eyes always went back to the golden girl was she began another run with Tenten, fixing her hair in a ponytail before rushing off.

It was the whole year like that. Gone was the messy, muddy orange jumpsuit girl and replacing her was a grown, annoying, still orange-loving woman who had now made it a daily routine to wear white skirts every day. Either her idea or she had bowed down to the threats of Sakura and Ino. Her smile was still contagious to those around her that he himself only found himself giving a small smirk. Her golden hair, though still a bit messy, always was in an elegant ponytail or at least a soft wavy feature.

But she was still Naru. She was still that pesky tick he couldn't get rid of.

Almost punching his head to rid himself of these thoughts, he had begun to snuck away from the group when he heard the squeak of sneakers run up behind him. Only one girl would wear sneakers instead of any high heeled shoes.

"What is it, Naru," he sighed with annoyance without a turn of his back.

"Hey, Sasuke." There was a hint of nervousness in her voice, different from the loud, boisterous call she usually gave him. He felt a sudden aura of awkwardness and tension around them. Breaking it, he knew he would have to turn around stare down at the girl. His eyes, as always showed no emotion, but Naru had always been an open book. Her biting lip, her hopeful eyes, and the digging of the sole of her shoe into the cement ground made it known that what she was about to say next had to be important to her.

"You wanna go out for some ramen? My treat!" Sasuke's shoulders sagged at this. Really? They had known each other for more than half their lives and she was still asking that same idiotic question?

"Loser. You know I hate ramen." With a look of exasperation and a small twitch of his lips, he walked away expecting to hear ear-shattering screams of his distaste for ramen. Turning around, he had found her gone, running back toward the group and tackling Rock Lee from his backside, making the bowel-haired teen greet her as he always did.

She didn't yell. Sasuke let out a sigh of relief for his ears, but the pain in them was even stronger as he made his way through the front gate of the Uchiha compound.

_And that's what happens when the only voice she hears is telling her can't_

__

The halls were crowded with students, parents, brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and friends as they all gathered to congratulate them of their success of graduating. He watched as she hugged her grandfather and grandmother tightly, his ears catching praises and how her parents would have been so proud of her. God rest their soul.

He never knew she was an orphan.

In a yellow and red kimono with orange blossom decorating the silk fabric, she rushed over to him as he sported a nice suit and held his diploma in his hands. White blossoms decorated the bun in her hair and the usual golden mess was as smooth as water and the bangs on her forehead straight. She barely had any make up on except for some smooth blush and gloss on her lips, making them even more desirable than Sasuke wanted to even think about.

Her arms wrapped around him, laying her head on his shoulder despite his frame stiffening hard. His eyes gazed down at the top of her head, smelling the citrus shampoo mixed with a small amount of lavender perfume that radiated off her neck.

He squirmed and gave her a slight push. She hugged him for a minute. That was all he would accept from her.

_You stupid boy…_

Naru only smiled as the presence of their friends gathered around them, the girls in different kimonos and the boys in expensive suits. Naru made her way around the group, hugging her friends and expressing shock that they were already eighteen years old. Her hugs lasted for more than a minute when it came to her three boyfriends, Kiba enveloping her in a large hug and handing her the new puppy his mother and sister had gotten him today. Chouji squeezed the life out of her, begging that she wasn't going to leave anymore and why she was going back to China for the whole summer break. His cries of anguish were diminished when Shikamaru reminded him that the four of them (including Kiba) were going with her and the new friends Naru had met over there and the people she had invited to her graduation: Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro.

They had made their way into the group and Naru enveloped them in a hug. Gaara, Sasuke had noticed, was as stoic and cold as he was, but it didn't stop him from hugging Naru back and engage her in a conversation on China with his older siblings. Shikamaru once again held a one-sided conversation with Gaara's older sister as she snorted at any words he said and offered him a piece of her mind.

After hugs, tears, promises that they all would hang out in the summer before heading off to their respective universities; it was time for the day to end. Sasuke had finished that hundreds of pictures of him, his parents, brother, and the rest of the Uchiha clan, he was left with her and her sidekicks as they chatted about Hong Kong. Naru had invited him to come along and made every possible way to convince him to go.

Would he want to be stuck with her for three weeks in another country? Besides their friends, who would?

_Oh, you always had to be right_

His rejection of the offer seemed to let her down, but she had the three others so it wouldn't be much of a stab if he wasn't included. He barely mumbled a few words to her that he would be easily ignored.

He wished.

"We better head home," Shikamaru broke the excited conversations seriously, "The plane leaves tomorrow at 8 in the morning and I still need to pack a few things before we go. It's gonna be ad drag since my mom wants to help."

The other three nodded and got up from the school bench to head out towards their respective homes. Sasuke once again requested to take Naru home and after goodnights and see you tomorrows from the three boys, they headed toward her apartment. They were silent on the way and Sasuke failed to realize that her arm had linked with his as they strolled the concrete sidewalk. Any attempt to push it away as the grip tightened even more.

"Can you let go," he murmured with a small snap in his voice.

"Come on, teme! It's our last night before I leave and I just wanna hold onto your arms a little bit longer!"

"It'll be a relief once you let go of it."

"Careful, Sasuke," she giggled as she rested her head against his arm, making him twitch, "You might regret those words." Sasuke rolled his eyes at this, but permitted the girl to rest against him as they arrived to her apartment. Waiting for her to unlock the door, she turned around to meet her gaze, azure eyes shining with the same hope she seem to give him at the end of the day. Shining eyes he could barely comprehend.

"Sasuke-teme," she smiled at the nickname and watched his face turn to one of annoyance, "Do you want to go get some ramen tomorrow before I leave. Last chance!"

What happened to my treat? Was he gonna be paying for it this time?

Sasuke gave a heavy sigh and looked at the girl with narrow eyes.

"You know I hate ramen, idiot. We're eighteen and you seem to still not know that." There was silence, no yelling or insults escaping the glossy lips. Naru smiled at him with that foxy grin she always gave to him and the others. She shook her head and gave him a final hug, feeling his body stiffen like an ironing board.

"No, but I was hoping you would give it a second look. Maybe ya will, but that won't mean I won't stop, you bastard!" The immature smile returned to her face and stick of her tongue out at him (so childish), she headed back in and he could hear the soft rummage of the lock being in place. The raven prodigy shook his head and headed down the stairs.

Something like ramen wasn't part of his menu. If she knew anything, she knew he would prefer tomatoes.

_But now you lost the only thing…_

_That's ever made you feel alive_

__

They had reached the age to drink a beer at twenty-one. The first sip of sake had the grown woman and she toasted to the adulthood they would all encounter. Chatting their way of college classes, teachers, and life, Sasuke found himself gulping down more beer than needed.

He always felt he needed to drink more, especially around her.

Naru laughed at another pathetic joke from Kiba while successfully stealing some of Chouji's BBQ pork from his face. She had spoken of Gaara and his siblings from China and how they were doing, her recent outing with TenTen to help her pick a wedding dress, and a new sports scholarship she had received from abroad. At 21, her features hadn't change since she was little. Her eyes were still wide and Caribbean blue, her hair gold and in a messy ponytail, and her tan never fading an inch. The three misfits have kept their usual looks as well. Shikamaru, though had grown in size, still had his eyes narrowed with fatigue and annoyance, his shoulder-length brown hair still in its pineapple ponytail, and his posture slouched even more. Chouji was still a fatso, but he had let his hair grown out even further and had started taking better care of himself once he began dating Ino. Kiba's shaggy brown hair was still as horrible as ever but tamed even more with a haircut, his cheeks sported his triangular tattoos, and his personality not changing a bit. If there was a change in it, it would have been around the Hyuuga heir that he had been secretly crushing on.

He himself still kept everything about him the same. His hair the same style, his onyx eyes reflecting the same cold nature, and his posture one of wanting to be alone. He hadn't change and it made him shiver that it was he and Naru who had kept everything about them a same in their large group of friends.

Once five rounds of beer became ten, Shikamaru made the wise decision that it was time to head home to their community apartments. Naru and her boyfriends had shared a same floor in an apartment villa while Sasuke had retired to a fancy condo in downtown. Agreeing, they lifted themselves up with a stretch and headed out. Like always, he volunteered to escort Naru home and failed to even realize that home was the direction they were all headed towards.

"Sasuke, let's head towards Konoha Bridge," Naru grinned, a hand on his arm and a smile of assurance she would be okay to her friends. They nodded and murmured a 'see ya tomorrow' before Naru grabbed Sasuke's arm and led him to a small wooden bridge they would both take on their way to Konoha Academy in their high school years. Leaning against the rail, Sasuke only stared at the young blonde as she stared into the water below her, trying to catch any glowing fish there were rumored to be. No matter how many times she was told they weren't true, she always gave a second look.

She always believed in the unbelievable.

"Sasuke?" He slightly jumped at the voice, the quietness of it all making him believe he was actually alone. His eyes met shining blue ones that continued to sparkle their Caribbean sea. Naru smiled at him, tightness in her lip forming and a soft tremble at the curve.

"Why don't you like ramen?"

Was she really asking this?

"Because…it's salty and not healthy."

"Come with me for some ramen, Sasuke. My treat."

How many times was she going to ask the same thing? Why couldn't she get that it wasn't his type of meal? Why was she so persistent on having ramen?

"You know I don't like it. I just told you, dobe." He watched the face scrunch at the name, but she didn't reply with her usual 'teme' response. She only smiled even brightly at him with her foxy grin and happy eyes that he still couldn't figure out.

"One day, you will like ramen, Sasuke-teme! I know you will, but I might not ask you for it anymore!"

"I'm counting on that day, dobe. You seem to have some memory loss to not know that I _detest_ ramen." A small laugh, but there was a hard line of force into it. He watched as she turned her back to walk away to her community apartment. Stopping for a short time, she turned around and gave him a wink and a stick of her tongue.

"Teme! You're gonna be a lifelong bastard for saying that!" She continued back, laughter leaving her lips. He knew she could picture his face of confusion at her answer. He shrugged his shoulders and headed toward his own condo, taking one last look back to see her run to the apartment and disappear under the streetlights. Feeling his heart lurch and give him a quick stab of pain, Sasuke ignored it and continued his steady pace.

He knew he shouldn't have drunk that much alcohol.

_She laid her heart and soul right in your hands, yeah_

__

She was married the day after Toyko's biggest blizzard in a decade.

The sky was covered in a vast number of clouds, the ground piled with cold crystals to cover the dried grass and mud underneath, and the air fresh and anew as frozen drops made their way softly to the ground. The honks of cars and crunch of snow was heard from the guests that made their way into the gleaming church. She had hugged him when he scowled at her choice of day, knowing that it was already a hassle on a big wedding day, but her smile showed one of careful thought and a bit of playfulness.

"It's beautiful, Sasuke," she gushed, "The world is white, the world is starting anew! It's like a blank piece of paper ready to be filled with bigger and better memories!"

She got him there, and when did she become so philosophical?

He grumbled and surrendered at will to her demand of the wedding.

Staring at her now, Sakura placing her wavy hair in an elegant braid that trailed down her bare back with a white flower adoring her hair, Sasuke couldn't believe how right she was. On a platform, a strapless white dress flowing behind her. Her bridesmaids in baby blue dresses that matched her gleaming eyes were awing at the beauty she possessed. An angel that had crash landed with the face of a divine creature but the personality of something so foreign to him. He felt his lips twitch as he watched her face light up and she give a brief jump of excitement.

A small twitch turning to a gentle smile that he never felt himself grace his features as his eyes continued to bore into the divine angel in front of him.

"Sasuke-kun! You shouldn't be here! You know it's bad luck to see the bride before the wedding! Shoo! Go!"

Sakura's strong hand shoved him into the direction of where the boys were and he felt momentarily surprised at the woman who had a strong infatuation of him in their younger years snapping at him for ruining tradition.

Or it could be the fact that she was pregnant with twins.

His sites laid on the men that had made their home in the hallways of the Church, scanning Naru's and, he'll admit, his friends of the male arena. Shikamaru sat on the window sill, his eyes staring at the vast clouds as if they were the only thing that mattered in life. Knowing him, they probably did. Chouji was leaning against the wall by his lazy friend, a pale blonde-haired baby in his arms that was barely two months old.

Fatso becoming a father out of all of them…Sasuke still found it hard to imagine.

Lee was patiently telling his green-eyed daughter to wait for the wedding to start before throwing the pink petals in the air. The tiny girl only giggled as she jumped up and down with the basket clinging in her petite hands, contents spilling out and a nervous father picking them up one by one. Shino's attention was focused on an elegant vase, but it was what was in it (probably some bug) that he was seeing, Neji was explaining the rules of being a ring bearer to his and TenTen's young son as he handed the small tyke the pale blue pillow, Kiba was entertaining Akamaru with a quick round of fetch (_why_ in a church?), and Gaara and Kankuro were focused on a private conversation.

Walking into the mixture, Sasuke received nods and smiles in his direction. His eyes scanned the tall walls of the gothic church and their stain glass windows.

How had he gotten to this moment? This surreal reality that was about to hit him? How—

_You stole her every dream and you crushed her plans, yes you did_

"She's ready!" Ino's shrieking voice made him slightly flinch as his body turned their way to the woman as she ran as fast as her high heels would let her. Running to Chouji and taking their son out of his arms and into her own, she immediately began giving orders as if it was her own wedding.

She's ready. She's _ready_.

Sasuke found himself pushed into the core part of the church, walking down a velvet carpet to the beautiful alter of gold that laid ahead of him. He barely felt himself exhale a trembling breath, could barely feel the slight shake of his hands and the tension in the muscles of his arms. The burn in his cheeks, nose, and eyes were starting to get to him too.

He didn't realize he was allergic to flowers.

Standing in his place, he briefly felt a hand on his stiff shoulder and a small shake of it. He stared at Kiba who gave him a wolfish smile and eyes that said 'just relax. It'll be over soon.' The brief nodded and narrow eyes looked around to see the last of the guests piling in and the bridesmaids rushing in to take their place with the _maid _of honor (Hinata) holding the hands of the young flower girl and ring bearer as she took her place in the middle of the doorway. The girls giggled as they made their way up to the alter, bouquets in their hands and quieting down when the classical music played.

Arm linked with that of her grandfather, he saw the angelic beauty walk down the aisle with a smile on her face, back straight, and white roses in her hands. A veil decorated the back of her head, but didn't cover her face.

A far cry from traditional wedding, but Sasuke should know well enough that this was no traditional woman. This twenty-five year old was a wild ride beneath a pretty face. As she approached the alter, he could feel the stares of their friends on him, burning holes as if to give him a silent warning.

A warning of—

The priest began speaking and his eyes focused on her once more. Her eyes lighting up as she looked at him, the smile showing of her glossed lips, childish dimples, and pearly whites.

A look of radiance he had never seen before until now. She was truly happy where she was at that moment.

_She never even knew she had a choice_

Baby blue meeting soft dark.

Pale hands entwined with sun-kissed digits.

Rings gleaming from the light of candles.

_And that's what happens when the only voice she hears is telling her she can't_

A kiss sealed the deal and Sasuke could feel fate clasp around them both at that moment. Cheers rang through their ears as their friends clapped, whistled, and squealed at this holy matrimony. Walking down the aisle, he had never pictured this grown woman to know be part of the most elite clan in all of Konoha. In all of Tokyo. Flowers were thrown on them as they exited through the high doors, pale pink sakura blossoms landing on his shoulders. Even with a hold, his hands wouldn't stop trembling and his face couldn't stop burning.

He knew he should've gone for rice.

_You stupid boy_

She ran up to him with a smile, pressing her body against his as he felt the warmth of the blonde spread on him like a wool blanket. She gave a laugh as she entwined her arm with his and it only made the allergies even worse than before. Despite his stiff posture, he gently gave her a hug.

He was still an Uchiha. He had to hold up some…_something_ that ran through his blood.

"Sasuke," Naru giggled as she grabbed his hand and stroked the back comfortingly, "Wanna get some wedding cake! My treat!"

No answer, a yes or no, would change the fate that would be seal. He had nothing to lose, nothing to gain and he let himself break with a smile that made Naru's grin widen even more and nodded his head.

"Dobe," he gave a short laugh, "You know I love cake."

_Oh, I'm the same old, same old stupid boy._

__

Maybe it was life's greatest surprises in the end. Maybe it was destiny that had put them two together. Neji seemed to be a big believer and damnit, he himself was starting to believe it too. Maybe it was time, that there was a certain hour, minute, a certain day that they would lock eyes and see something different in them, that there was more than what was in the past and what could be in the future.

No push needed. Maybe a small one, but just a tap to send them into the direction they were on.

A direction that led him here, in a cold building, head leaning against a limestone wall, arms crossed, hair a mess, dark shadows beneath his eyes, and the sounds of ringing phones and beeping monitors a lullaby that wanted him to sleep. He barely had gotten a wink of sleep since the cold winter night at 11:00 pm.

He could vaguely remember the sound of Naru's cry, the operator on the other end giving words of reassurance, and the flashing white and red lights as the vehicle sped away. If it was not the wedding that sealed the fate of his future, maybe it was this.

Providence really was a bitch.

Hands shaking from an unknown force and face burning once more, he could barely make out Kiba and the extreme anxiety encompassing the recently-married man. He would pet his dog as a way of comfort, but it offered him no help and the whine of the grown white canine was evidence of that. He could barely here Chouji on his phone as he gave words of reassurances and positive notes. Through the soft murmurs of his words and the fast text messages, Sasuke could feel the optimism in Chouji's demeanor.

A small scream lifted their heads and he heard a laugh and a sigh of relief when the sound made its way into their ears. He lifted himself up, ignoring the brief celebration behind him of pats and tearful laughs and focusing on the two metal doors in front of him. His hands burned with fire as the trembling got even worse. His face was enraging with pain, cheeks down to the bones, nose, the tightness in his lips, and his eyes.

God, his _eyes_.

The doors opened with a jubilated slam and it made him jump, his heart beating at a faster rate than he wanted it to. It was just the thing to make him break everything now.

_It took a while for her to figure out… she could run_

A small wind of two men rushing by to see the small babe in warm arms. Dark hair and strands of golden blond mixing perfectly on the child's soft and fragile head. Big brown eyes with specks of blue hidden in those irises as the small boy took his first gaze into his surroundings. Confusion, wonderment, and a hint of mischief caressed his skin, a perfect mix of pale and tan.

Sasuke gave a hard laugh as the baby turned its way back into the soft embrace of arms holding him. He barely heard Kiba's whoop for joy for his godson to be born and Chouji on the phone once again.

So this was it, then. Hot water sprang down his cheeks and he could barely summon the energy to question why they were even there.

Why was water on his face when he barely had a bottle in his hands?

_But when she did…_

Wiping that silly water of his face as quick as he could, his stance was high, his eyes narrow and dark, and his lips in his usual frown. But no matter what dignity (what was the meaning of that word now?) that he held as an Uchiha. He looked into the face of a man who would barely muster a smile if it weren't for something great. A smile and brown eyes that seem to know that held the whole world in the palm of his hands and in a small hospital room. The energy in his excitement.

Now, he could only dream.

"_**Sasuke-teme! You want to go eat some ramen! My treat."**_

"_**Sure, dobe."**_

"Congratulations, Shikamaru," his voice as stern as steel, "Yours and Naru's baby is beautiful. You must be very proud.

_She was…long gone, long gone..._

__

**First Naruto fanfic and I did a female Naruto! LOL! Oh well. Anyway, I'm a HUGE fan of SasuNaru, but ShikaNaru has sort of grew on me, especial with FemNaru. Hope it doesn't have too many grammer (how I detest thee) mistakes or spelling or stuff. I'm thinking of writing a POV of each of the other characters, not all the "Rookie 9" and Gaara and his siblings, but on Naru, Shika, Chouji, and Kiba. Granted, it won't be as long as Sasuke's (I had too much fun torturing the pain in the ass), but it might have a song in their. Let me know.**

**Read and Review XOXO**


	2. Ironies

Shikamaru had always enjoyed the ironies in life. In a troublesome world he already found himself inhabiting, any sort of mockery of it was a godsend. Even as a young child, he had found himself mocking his own stoic features with that of rival children. While they had enjoyed playing with anything they could get their small hands on, he had found a large and comfortable tree deep within the park's woods and staring up at the passing clouds. He would find himself constantly wishing to be one of them, flow wherever the wind took them, not have to worry about troublesome mothers, eating vegetables, or cleaning up a room. They were just _there_ and nothing could make them stay or go. But the thing with ironies and clouds, Shikamaru had discovered, is that they always seem to shift when something strikes them hard.

She had come and struck it hard.

Naru Uzumaki was a ball of sunshine and trouble.

_Oh no, this couldn't be more unexpected_

Before Chouji, she had been one of the first people he had met in daycare through his parents. Her parents had been close friends with them until their sudden death that left the small four year old in the care of her grandparents. Shikamaru was all but given the title to be her friend and, in a way through his mom, her protector.

Naru was loud. She would talk with such of energetic tone that it made his head ring with annoyance. He couldn't muster the energy to tell her to shut up, so he closed his eyes as she rattled on about her day. She would pout when she found out he wasn't listening but soon focused her attention on Chouji who eagerly joined in with his own adventures.

The three of them hung tightly to one another, a gravitational pull that locked the trio together despite the differences in strengths and weakness. Shikamaru, the hidden genius, Chouji, the naïve teddy bear, and Naru, the loudmouth knucklehead were definitely the oddest group of friends Konoha had ever seen.

Still, Shikamaru, with his true belief in ironies, kept with these two misfits as if his life depended on it and that beautiful tree deep in the woods soon started to become a distant memory. Choosing a knucklehead over a sanctuary of peace and solitude was a question that the lazy genius didn't even want to think about.

_And I can tell that I've been moving in so slow_

When Kiba came and was just as loud and annoying as Naru, Shikamaru's stomach started to hurt. He saw the fascination the girl had with the boy. The way her eyes lit up whenever he would come up with some sort of genius plan to make recess longer or embarrass another teacher to the point they wanted to quit. Her smiles was bigger, her cheeks a little redder, and her posture a little more lively.

Who would've thought that it would be his stomach that hurt the day Naru became an even bigger ball of trouble and not his head.

It only stopped when Kiba made her an honorary Inuzuka and adopted the blonde as his little sister.

_And I can tell that I've been moving in so slow_

Sasuke Uchiha was the prodigy of Konoha, of Tokyo, and of Japan in general. He was smart, handsome, and skilled in everything he could say and do. Shikamaru knew him through formal clan celebrations where the elite clans would go to a formal dinner and exchange conversations. It is how he met Chouji, but the Uchiha always tended to stay away from the other children (preferably Sakura and Ino) and cling on to his eldest brother no matter how many times Itachi Uchiha tried to shoo him off.

When Naru met him, he was met with the biggest of ironies to cling onto.

The sparkle in her eyes when she saw him, a thin line from adoration was evident in her features that he could so easily read. His eyebrows raised with amusement at this and at her attempt to be friendly. His cruel message, making Shikamaru's slouch straighten a tiny bit, was sure to send the girl crying her eyes out.

Irony meet Fist. Fist, meet irony.

As he stared at the tackled Uchiha trying to block pathetic punches from a girl, he almost felt himself slap his forehead with his hand and shake his head. Better not think too much of this, or another headache would occur.

At the end of the day, she invited him for ramen.

But Naru…you don't beat the living crap out of a boy you really like…

_Don't let it throw you off too far_

'_Cause I'll be running right behind you_

Naru made her crush so obvious, that everyone thought her crush on Sasuke was the last thing she would have. The sarcasm in this fact made Shikamaru muster a small smirk as he watched his blond friend arguing with her official rival on some class notes.

Behind it all, though, every argument, every attempted punch, and ever slander, he could hear the hidden fangirl within her squealing at how cute 'Sasuke-kun' was and a victory in getting him to talk with her. Arguments, but talking nonetheless.

Giving a soft complaint at the hot weather of early summer, Shikamaru felt a gentle fist hit his head and Naru give him the God-awful name of Pineapple head. An invitation of ice cream was a relief and he only gave enough energy for one nod before laying his head back against his chair for a nap. He briefly listened in on the main topic of the day: Naru's orange jumpsuit that hurt his eyes. There was a brief battle between her and Kiba and her and Sasuke over the coat, a battle that she would usually lose with a loud surrender and small pout. He opened his eyes to see her take off her jump suit, revealing too much tan skin than the Naruto usual.

And it wasn't like he didn't notice her…developments that barely protruded from her chest and made a slender change in her hips. His eyes scanned her with one swipe before feeling a heavy weight on them. Determined to close them, they had decided to get a mind of their own and shift to Sasuke.

He was still staring at her chest, head tilted and eyes slightly glowing a little darker than usual. A part of Shikamaru wanted to straighten up and tell the raven to stop being a pervert, but a part of him wanted Kiba to notice and send the prodigy looking the other way.

"Like what you see, Uchiha?" Bingo.

Following insults from another cruel comment on the size of her breasts, Naru and Sasuke settled it with failed punches, hits, insults, and the famous Uzumaki pout. Despite this, Naru had received condolences once again from him and their friends. Giving her an amused look, it was all he could muster as a ridicule and praise.

At the end of the day, she asked him for ramen. Her treat.

This year was gonna be such a drag.

_Could this be out of line?_

The irony in his life was silence. He was addicted to it as if he only needed the sweet sound of nothingness to get him through life. Though the truth, he found himself glaring down at the fourteen year old girl as she leaned against the wall of his room.

"You're leaving?" A glare of defiance.

"It's not like I have a choice! Who would've thought my pervert grandfather's books would get popular in China!"

She had him there and he could think of a proper response to that. Hearing her sigh, she went over to his bed and collapsed on it, owning it as if it were her room. Shikamaru only sighed and leaned against his desk.

"So how long will you be gone?"

The blonde shrugged, but he could see a small twitch in her shoulder at the question. This couldn't be good.

"Grandpa Jiji said two years."

Silence rang across the room and what Shikamaru found himself treasuring most he wanted to get rid of. It was another irony he would add to his list. His friend was leaving them, Konoha, Japan, and there was nothing anyone could do about it. Not with the grandparents being her legal guardian.

"I decided to tell you first because you would have the best reaction," Naru confessed as she left his house two hours later, "I'll tell Kiba, Chouji, and Sasuke tomorrow."

"Surprised you even added the Uchiha genius into the mix."

"He's close to me, Shikamaru." She sighed as if she had explained this to him for the millionth time.

Maybe she had.

"How close?" Silence rang again, but it was broken by a small 'this is such a drag' from the lazy boy's mouth. Naru only laughed and gave him a hug which he returned. After all, a bodyguard couldn't stay mad at his protect-ee for so long.

"By the way, don't forget to ask Mr. Perfect for ramen tomorrow."

"Why? You know his answer. It's gonna be the same one tomorrow, and the day before that, and the whole entire week before that."

The look of surrender, to throw down the towel wasn't something he was use to on the blonde's face. She always had a thumps up in any situation she found herself in and even if it was troublesome, love was a huge situation indeed.

"Maybe he'll stop having his head up his ass and finally have some sense knocked into him before you leave tomorrow." He was met with a tilted head, pursed lips, and confused blue eyes.

"What sense?"

Scratch that. When _both_ of them have some sense knocked into him.

Being friends with Uzumaki Naru wasn't only troublesome, it was annoying.

_To say you're the only one breaking me down like this_

_You're the only one I would take a shot on_

He rejected her offer once more, Naru was off to China by afternoon, and Shikamaru drowned himself in a game of shogi with Chouji and his father.

_Keep me hanging on so contagiously_

"Guess who?" He answered the phone before the early morning dew had settled on thin blades of grass.

"Naru?"

"Who else?" He hadn't expected her voice to change so much. Gone was the tomboyish loudness of it all and here was this.. _girl _voice. If she heard his thoughts now, he wondered if it was possible to receive a smack in his head all the way from China.

"You troublesome woman, do you even know what time it is here," he found himself snapping as he furiously brushed strands of his hair away from his face tiredly. Hitting his head down into the soft pillow, he listened to the answer.

This had gotta be good.

"Sorry, Shika! I left a package for you! It's really important and I need ya to get it. It's probably already at your home." He murmured a few curses that earned him a reprimand from the girl on the phone as he lifted himself up and headed to his front door. With a loud yawn, he opened it to be greeted with a tackled hug.

Okay, now he was awake.

His eyes traveled down to the view of golden hair and he knew the girl wouldn't let go without a proper hug. Hugging her back tightly, she finally released and stared at him with a large smile.

"Naru?"

"Who else?"

To say she hadn't changed was an understatement. Two years later and here was a teenage girl, curved hips and breasts, with hair in soft waves and in clothing he had remembered saying she would drop dead before even wearing anything like them. He led her into his home, fully awake and ready to serve a cup of tea. He watched as she took her view around his home, a contented smile on her face for being back. He gave a small smirk and shake of his head.

Still classic Naru.

He had been aware of her homecoming earlier on that year. Writing letters of when she would be back but making her promise that she wouldn't tell any of the others, especially Sasuke. Rolling his eyes, he kept this promise, but when his mother found his letter she had made a sort of intervention with him that he made him swore off the prospect of getting married.

Since Naru was the daughter of his mother's best friend, Shikamaru found his position as her 'bodyguard' elevated to the status of 'protector of Naru's innocence.' The fact she was coming back as a sixteen-year old girl had send his mother into one of those moods that his father and him tried unsuccessfully to avoid.

It was one of those times that Shikamaru had wished Naru had been born a boy.

So now that he was the 'protector of a little flower' (he cringed at those words), it was easy to see why his mom went overboard. Naru had grown up and if the Uchiha didn't hurry up and make his move in confessing his feelings, Shikamaru was sure there was a line of hopefuls soon to be waiting.

He wouldn't be surprised if Kiba abandoned Naru from his 'little sister' status either.

_When I'm around you I'm predictable_

She had gotten a good scholarship to their school. She had told him of the three friends she had met in China and how they had gotten her interested in sports. She had asked him to pretend not to have seen her earlier, knowing full well there would be an onslaught of demands from Kiba and Chouji on why they weren't included.

When their group was back together, he could not escape the group hug around the only female of their cluster and even though Sasuke didn't hug her back, the faint blush on his cheeks and the glaze over his eyes made Shikamaru sure that a confession wouldn't be too far into the future.

The year continued on with their small club getting bigger through Naru's participation in school and the same old Uzumaki way of hers. Soon their small group became a group of 9 along with three older students by the names of Rock Lee, Hyuuga Neji, and his girlfriend TenTen. A large group that Shikamaru found himself trusting, loving, ones that he knew would have his back and he would have theirs.

It scared him to actually have this and to believe that he had wanted to wonder the rest of his life in a solitude place.

Irony.

He had witnessed Naru's next attempt to show Sasuke her affection. The hesitance in his stance and the blush on his cheeks made it stand out even more, Shikamaru was sure that maybe…this time…

"You know I hate ramen." Damnit.

He watched her tackle Lee into a hug and the happier-than-most-people-should-even-be boy greet her with enthusiasm and commenting on the power of her youth once more. Naru only laughed and smiled at the boy's remark, but Shikamaru had been around the girl more than enough to know the insincerity of it all, that there was still so much hope but a small fragmented piece being ready to give up.

He didn't need to be a genius to see that it may not have been Naru's naïve character…but perhaps an Uchiha's hereditary stubbornness and dignity.

'_Cause I believe in loving you at first sight_

_I know it's crazy but I'm hoping to…_

Graduation came too quick for his mind to wrap around. He winces as he watched his mother flash the camera in his face as he went up to receive his diploma. Cheers from his friends, his group, the originals of it all cheering the loudest and standing up with applause. He rubbed the back of his head and sighed with a smile at their foolish actions.

After too many hugs, kisses, and pictures his mother tormented him with along with his friends, he went over to their group, parent and relative free. He had to admit that the girls did look pretty today, even Naru had given in to her grandparents request in wearing a kimono. He watched as she was embraced by them and they proudly showed off her diploma.

"You mom and dad would have been so proud of you, Naru," he heard Tsunade-sama tearfully tell the girl in her arms. Her eyes met his and he couldn't help but give her comforting smiles at the statement that he saw make her twitch. Her parents were too much of a sensitive subject.

In the eighteen years he had known her, he hadn't heard her talk once of the man and woman his own parents would talk so fondly of.

She made her way into their group, grabbed into a fierce hug by the girls and promises for all of them to spend every waking moment of their summer together.

Great. And he thought he was actually gonna get some rest.

"You'll have to wait til we get back," Kiba piped as he held his brand new puppy in his arms tightly, "Me, Naru, Chouji, and Shikamaru are going to China with Naru's friends she had invited to her graduation. We'll be back in a month."

Their trip was one of a surprise when a boy named Gaara told Naru of the festival she had been unable to attend due to the fact she had come home to Konoha. It was a trip of a lifetime for Chouji and Kiba and Shikamaru didn't want to spend the rest of his summer hearing his mother nag, making it either China or his home.

Chatter of future plans filled his ears and as he watched Naru break herself from the group and head toward the Uchiha, the lazy teen felt an eyebrow raise with amusement at this. She hugged him, there was a tensed stance in his posture, and he could barely see Sasuke lean down and brush his nose into the sunny hair and take in the fragrance. The blush appeared once more, but was soon all forgotten when the raven pushed his secret crush away.

He interrupted the talking a short time later when he suggested that they all should go home to catch the first plane out of Konoha. He still needed to pack and the sooner he was done with his mother's 'help,' the better. Nods of agreement, they headed out of the school's entrance for the last time. Sasuke volunteered, with no emotion within him, to escort Naru home. His eyes traveled to the passing cars, unable to see the shy smile on the girl's face.

Maybe this time…

_To take a hold on you…_

"Hey," he heard the hoarse voice through the other side of the phone. He sighed with a pinch to his forehead. It didn't take him long to know that it was another rejection from the Uchiha that made the girl sound this depressed.

"You wanna come over? I need someone to protect me from my mother's troublesome nagging."

He heard her laugh on the other end at it.

Mission accomplished.

_Could this be out of line?_

China was nothing but lights and sounds. He couldn't believe that Konoha or Japan as a whole was more quieter than what he experienced in Hong Kong. He was dragged by his friends as Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro gave them a tour of everything the large country and downtown area had to offer them. As always, Naru's first destination was the nearest ramen stand. She could hardly contain her excitement at the different flavors of the delicious noodles on the menu and the 3 foreign friends couldn't hide their amusement at the bouncing ball of gold.

Shikamaru could hardly get one ounce of rest through it all. Each time he was grabbed by his arm by his blonde friend and his own protest was a small 'what a drag' as he was pulled to another site. Despite this, he would admit it was sort of enjoyable to see he and his original friends together, even with three new ones. It reminded him of muddy water and high jumps of his younger years.

_To say you're the only one breaking me down like this._

His younger years when all four of them meant the world to only each other and no one else, not even stubborn ravens, would come in between the strong friendship.

_You're the only one I would take a shot on_

"I had fun. It'll be nice going back to Konoha, but I'm gonna miss Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro." She broke the silence on a silent walk to a small koi pond near a Chinese museum. In the distance was sounds of faint pops from a festival nearby, sparklers and fireworks lighting up the midnight sky. Shikamaru nodded as they continued to walk, dressed in formal attire that Temari had to threaten Naru with her life if she didn't wear a dress. The threat sent the boys laughing and they were met with a fist to their heads. Escaping from the group to a small garden with a pond, they took in the gentle nature around them.

Shikamaru barely closed his eyes in his semi-sleepwalk when he felt no presence to his own side. He gave a small 'hm' before turning around to see Naru in a stilled position, looking at the soft granite floor. Her eyes slowly made their way up to his and that childish smile, a smile that told of him some realization she had or another idea to make a teacher release them from class early.

She grinned at him, eyes shining and hands softly trembling. Shikamaru felt something within him tense, sore his normally relaxed muscles as they hardened with some sort of anticipation. Naru only laughed and shook her head, grabbing his hand with that persistent gaze in her eyes.

"Come, Shika! Let's get some ramen! My treat!"

He groaned a soft 'troublesome.'

Well, at least he wasn't fitting the bill.

Wait a minute…

_Keep me hanging on so contagiously_

That small treat became another night with Naru's leftover money of ramen and the next and then the whole final week of their trip. They settled in their usual friendly conversation, sometimes a comfortable silence filling the ramen bar. They would go into their usual banter, with Shikamaru most of the time giving in to the argument and Naru getting even angrier at the fact he had given up due to the fact he was too much of a lazy ass to continue the debate.

"Geez, Pineapple Head, I thought you would at least have a little energy at eighteen."

Shikamaru smirked as he twirled the noodles with his chopsticks

On their last day, he treated her out to a Chinese restaurant.

"Too much ramen for one week, even for you," he sighed, pulling her into the building, "Let's try something different."

They ignored the snickers from Kiba, Chouji, and Kankuro behind them.

_Oh you're everything I'm wanting_

"No way," TenTen squealed as she launched at Naru with a death hug. Coughing ultimately released the girl from her grip. Naru gently rubbed the back of her head and stared at the rest of the group. Kiba and Chouji were the only ones sporting smirks and excited eyes, while the rest had been locked in a shocked state. If Shino joined them, his stoic stance didn't give him away. Shikamaru sighed his usual catchphrase before stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"You two…I mean…But you two."

"Yes, Sakura we know," Naru snapped, the blush on her cheeks getting darker with each gaze her friends gave her. She barely felt the warm presence behind her stare holes in the back of her head as if they were trying to get her attention. Shikamaru viewed as her stance straightened even more, ignoring the tense gaze from the eyes of Uchiha. Shikamaru eyes stuck on the raven until finally they met. There were no secret conversations or one-sided advice.

No. Because Uchiha Sasuke was given the biggest irony in Shikamaru's life than he had ever thought.

"Just say it Sakura, Shikamaru sighed, taking his hand out of his jeans and pulling Naru close to him, "We're dating."

_Come to think of it, I'm aching_

Twenty-two and their first sips of beer had been the final rite of passage for every one of them. The day ended with them ordering a few meals and all the liquor they could drink. When Sasuke volunteered to escort Naru back, Shikamaru felt a slight twitch in his body. Not only was their community apartments all in the same direction, but Sasuke had no reluctance in his voice.

He pulled her aside and gave her an okay. Because _they_ were meant to be, not them. She offered him a smile and a comforting hand on his arm before guiding Sasuke to Konoha bridge. Feeling exhaustion creep up on him like a shadow, goose bumps of fear cascading on his pale skin as he watched them walk away together.

An hour later she was back at her apartment, jiggling the lock to her door.

"I told him one day he'll like ramen, but the next time he does I won't be asking him to share a bowl of it." Her laughter showed no hesitance, showed no mask in the tone and only a sure decision in her final choice. A choice that shouldn't have been meant to be.

However, his mind hid this though within the shadows of a corner as arms wrapped around his neck and pulled him down for a kiss, tasting of citrus and spice and a warm body pressed against his own.

Minutes later, flushed faces, symbiotic moans, glistening bodies, and the smell of lavender and sweat was the final reassurance Shikamaru needed to know this irony was a karma in the making.

_On account of my transgression…_

_Will you welcome this confession?_

He stared his brown eyes to the cloud-covered sky from his place on the window sill. Leave it to Naru to pick a troublesome day for a wedding. She already was given her reprimand through a fist on her head by Sakura before dragged away to get ready.

"This day is gonna be such a drag," he murmured to Chouji when he made his way over to his best friend and his small godson in the man's arms. Shikamaru stared down at the pouting lips on the sleeping baby and sighed.

Troublesome. He'll end up being just like his mother.

"Only you would say that about your own wedding, Shikamaru," Chouji laughed and patted the man's shoulder, "Usually people are in love on their wedding, not wanting to get it over."

"It's not marrying Naru that makes this a drag, it's my parents," he grimaced. When the Nara family found out of the engagement, his mother had turned hysterical. Hugging Naru for a full ten minutes before he had to drag his fiancé away from his mother. Planning began a minute after they announced it and all three of them, including Shikaku, found it was best to avoid trouble if they just agreed on everything she said, especially when Tsunade became involved as well. The only control Naru really had was the date and time of the wedding. Shikamaru: zero.

"Just stare at the girl," Chouji grinned, "That's what I did."

"And think of the wedding night," Kiba added to the private conversation, a perverted grin on his face. This earned him two glared and a sharp punch to his shoulder.

"She's ready," his ears rang from the scream from Ino's voice. She took the young child from her husband and began ordering them all to the alter with a tone that no man wanted to mess with. Sighing, he headed up the aisle, shaking few hands and offering few words of thanks for the guests. His eyes briefly made their way to Sasuke, seeing his cold features staring at the golden alter with such hardness, as if he wanted to destroy the whole damn place.

Placing themselves in their positions, the girls coming in with giggles and few exchanges of words, he heard the music begin and his stance was a little straighter.

Walking down, was the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on. His eyes solely focused on her, friends and family disappearing and becoming second best to the beauty he was gonna make his with two simple words and a silver ring. Chouji was right on the focus on the bride, but he had to admit that Kiba was also right. Looking at her beautiful body now, he knew wedding night was a distraction from his weeping mom and other Nara women ready to cry their eyes out.

_Could this be out of line?_

A prayer from a priest, two simple words, exchanges of rings, and a passionate kiss sealed the deal as he swept her in her arm and held her tightly. He felt her giggle at his persistency in the kiss, but to him it was a declaration to the man standing in the groomsmen line. That this black comedy of irony had its angst and had its happily ever after.

They pulled away and grinned out at the crowd, his hand holding hers tightly.

She was a Nara and as long as she kept that ring on her finger and his arms around her, she'll stay that way.

_To say you're the only one breaking me down like this._

Irony: humor based on using words to suggest the opposite of their literal meaning.

The dark humor that engulfed him filled his mind as he ran down the hallway, holding the sweaty hand in his own and offering her words of comfort. Stroking her blonde hair, he was led into the emergency room, drenched with scrubs and a surgical mask.

This was the final nail to an obscure coffin. In the midst of the chaos, behind a paper mask, he smirked at the situation at hand. He had become the villain to a fairytale that should have been, that was written out to be the future.

In the end, though, he was selfish and twisted the story until it would fit a dark character's ending. The small screams of a child breathing their first breath of life was the final words at the conclusion of every twisted tale.

**The End.**

_You're the only one I would take a shot on_

The cold congrats from Sasuke made him tingle. The heartbroken face behind the veil of unemotional eyes was like a soldier giving up the battle. He got her in the end. He accepted her offer and look where it had led them: the two men she had stolen their hearts from, standing in a cold hall with one male holding a product of their love in his arms and the other a distant memory.

"Thank you, Sasuke. I'll let Naru know."

Walking back to the woman gowned in a white hospital dress, he smiled as her eyes lit up at the precious baby in his arms. Gathering her son in her arms, he watched the beautiful scene of his wife feeding their first child with the sounds of footsteps going into the distance. He'll still be around, but the man knew his barriers and Nara Raiden was the brick wall.

Leaning down for a final kiss before the brand new, but exhausted mother settled down for a nice lap, the lazy genius never knew satire could have tasted so sweet. He could only pray that more would come in the next 20 years.

_Keep me hanging on…so contagiously…_


	3. Cute Little Mask

The simplest and most innocent way to call her was a child wearing a mask. She briefly felt a soft hand pat her soft curls at 3 years old. Lips pursing and eyes staring at the blue uniform in front of her with small tan hands folded in her lap.

"The will left her in the care of her grandparents and Mr. Hatake Kakashi." Stoic and unemotional. It was as if the man had been doing this for a while. Her sapphire eyes found interest in the small aunt on the granite floor and her lips purse once more. She barely felt pale hands pick her up and her own arms wrap around a neck to hold onto the comforting man that had become her older brother and personal bodyguard.

She was quickly put in a comfy room a week after the will was read. Progress reports showed nothing, no sadness, no happiness, interest in coloring, and the obsession with ramen. Her elder brother gave his skeptical looks, but he was convinced that she would talk when she was ready. If she took anything from his former teacher, she would speak when she was ready.

She wore her mask once more when she met her parents' closest friends. They embraced her as she pursed her lips once more. With a look of permission from her grandparents and brother, she hugged them back and shyly waved at the children behind them.

"Shikamaru, you make sure to look after Naru." A small whine, a whack in the head, and hand taking her own and shaking it. Another one, a small chubby boy, smiled and patted her hair; a start of an obsession. The other brunette gave her a doggy grin before tackling her into a hug and shoving a toy dog in her face.

She gave them her cute little mask that made many of those sigh in relief that she was okay.

The cute little mask that would become the eye-wide-open trap.

_I opened my eyes last night and saw you in the low light  
>Walking down by the bay on the shore<em>

The cutest mask captured the hearts of those in her 1st grade class. With her three best friends, she was able to melt even the hardest of teachers while at the same time making them beg their local union to give them another class. She made the mask give a cute little giggle before rushing out to join in another mud competition.

Her masked eyes briefly caught a glimpse of midnight raven and thin lips staring as she shook the cloudy drops from her soaking blonde hair.

What a handsome grumpy mask he wore.

_Staring up at the stars that aren't there anymore  
>I was feeling the night grow old and you were looking so cold<br>_

Her grandmother was woman of strength. She owned her own store, hired and fired her employees, and was in control of the money that came in. No one trusted her grandfather when the green papers were placed in his greedy fingers. She had constantly drilled into her mind, a chant, a religion that whatever she wanted that she needed to get it herself. No one helped her grandmother, and there was an 80% chance that no one will help her.

Naru greeted herself to the prominent Uchiha, god-like features and all. She grinned as the fingernails dug into the soft skin on her palm. Crescent imprints impaling her deeper as she gave him the best smile she could muster.

He rejected the greeting and she couldn't have felt more elated as she decorated her face in distortion and pounced on the brat. Desperately trying to punch his face and feeling his gaze heat the back of her head. A blocked punch, a screaming insult, and cheers made the excitement within her grow.

A gentle hand of reassurance made it hard to keep her forged pout and paste it into a smile.

_So like an introvert, I drew my over shirt  
>Around my arms and began to shiver violently<br>Before you happened to look and see the tunnels all around me  
>Running into the dark underground<em>__

Her cute little mask was a tutor. She would whisper when to smile, when to pout, when to argue, and when to ignore and when to flaunt. Her eyes and face focused on the porcelain features on her left side, grinning and tossing her hair as if she was one of those girls that walked in with their shiny lip glosses and colorful nylons. Kiba teased her, but a black eye and a glare would tone it down.

She felt the heated gaze once again against her bare neck, ignoring the look of confusion and misinterpretation she was trying to gain. Lifting her orange coat with little protest of the heat, a desire to flaunt the future bodily improvements she was slowly gaining made her pursed lips almost fall. A gulp from the person on her left and a glare from the one on her right, she could silently hear the reprimanding of a mother's voice.

What kind of child are you?

_All the subways around create a great sound  
>To my motion fatigue, farewell with your ear to a seashell<em>

The decision came from a simple bowl of ramen in her room. Big brother visiting her and bringing the delicious treat with him.

"Hey, Kakashi," she grinned before slurping a stand of noodle into her mouth, "How would you ask a girl out?"

Gulp. Guh. Cough.

"What made you ask that," he asked her sternly.

"No reason," she shrugged casually, "I just want to be ready to reject the next guy that asks me." A silent cheer gave her shoulder a small twitch at the sound of a sigh of relief. She stared up to see him gently grin at her with all seriousness vanishing from his features.

"I don't know," he laughed as he twirled his chopsticks into the golden broth, "Maybe I'd ask her out on for some ramen?" They shared a laugh, but a silent prayer was given that he wouldn't hear the gears winding in her head.

The next day, she greeted the beautiful Sasuke with another greeting, an insult in return, and a fight that made Iruka-sensei scream at her even louder. Failed punches to the face made him fail to see her smirk and when she asked him for ramen at the end of the day, her treat she had reluctantly added, she was rejected.

Sasuke walked away with a sneer and that, along with the heat radiating on her neck, couldn't hide the smirk that formed on her face.

_You can hear the waves in underwater caves  
>As if you actually were inside a saltwater room<em>

She asked him every day, grabbing his arm, adding a hidden flirt as she invited him for ramen. Doing what those girls did in that magazine she had seen in her grandfather's room: a small lick of the lips, a small pout, and even just a little pressure of her body against his. She watched Kiba and Choji tilt their heads as she brushed her hair and through it back, and gently dab the gloss on her lips despite the horrid taste.

"You're ridiculous," Shikamaru snapped with a yawn. She rewarded him with a smile and extra blush on her cheeks.

They teased her, but she considered herself a genius for hiding her cute little mask for this long. Reaching her stepping stone in two years, she was fitting into forming curves and developing chest, making an intolerable concern for her looks stronger. A concern that gently covered her mask with powders and gloss. Not much, but just enough.

She watched him turn away once more, the smirk on her lips quick and fleeing as she turned around with a solemn look on her face. Warm arms embraced her as Kiba bear hugged her gently and Choji pat her hair once more. Shikamaru murmured something of a waste of time before giving a tentative pat on her shoulder for the effort. Hiding her face into Kiba's shoulder, a swift and sharp blow of wind exited her nose before giving the boy a masked glare.

_Time together is just never quite enough  
>When you and I are alone, I've never felt so at home<em>

The ribbon on her finger pulled even tighter and left its imprint. She tossed her blonde hair back as she stared up at the balloon with a soft grin. She shifted her gaze toward the three teens in front of her with the heat of the closest boy making the fox-like grin even bigger. She turned to the heat source as it met with her with stoic, but open eyes.\

"Thank you for the balloon, Sasuke. I love it," she commented as her gaze went back on the green latex that floated in the air, held down by a simple string around her tan digit. A small 'hn' was as close as she was gonna get for a thank you and she was okay with this. They were easily ignored when Choji and Kiba quickly found a pie throwing booth, only one of them focusing more on playing the game while the other looked at the chocolate silk pastry as if it held all of life's answers. Shikamaru only shook his head, head resting in hand to prevent a coming headache. She turned to Sasuke and grinned once more.

"I mean it, Sasuke. Thank you, but I think it's gonna pop before we go home."

"Hn."

Feeling another lone gaze on her, the knot on her finger tightened its hold and the imprint paled to her tan skin. Her sapphire eyes turned to the onyx one, fox-like curve in her face at the fact she could easily read that simple and naïve expression. Lifting up a millimeter, she gently placed a kiss on his cheek, feeling him freeze beneath her and the cheek bones and skin stiffen at her touch. She almost let out a giggle at this and the mask once again innocently pressed a gentle time against the red blush.

"Thank you." Rage, embarrassment, worry, denial. The feelings seemed to only increase as she tightened her hold on the white string before heading toward the pie throwing contest. No shock to see Kiba shouting at Choji that eating the pie was not part of the game. Heat once again inflamed her neck, small bumps sending a gentle shiver down her back at this. Her grip tightened and her cute little mask grinned.

She really was her grandfather's granddaughter

_What will it take to make or break this hint of love?  
>We need time, only time…<em>

They went home and she was once again rejected. The soft squeeze on her shoulder and a tight lip was the final goodbye before her trip. A tremble ran through her before she gave him a final goodnight and a rebuke to his distaste in ramen. Grabbing the cloth of her shirt, she stopped any goose bumps from forming. Heat draped her stomach and eyes, but that cute little mask never left at all. The grin was still there and she felt some sort of reassurance at his answer. The invisible string with that soft squeeze in her shoulder had just tightened and she had to admit…

String burns hurt like crap.

_When we're apart whatever are you thinking of?  
>If this is what I call home, why does it feel so alone?<em>

She called Shikamaru before her flight to China left. Send her love to his parents, Choji, and Kiba from her.

"Umm."

The line went dead with a robotic voice to turn off all technological devices

_So tell me darling do you wish we'd fall in love?  
>All the time, all the time<em>

Naru was tackled by sweaty teenage boys as they knocked the air out. Her hair was softly messed with and it was a sigh of relief. Despite the improvements on her chest from puberty and the looks she was given when she had entered the school gates. They were still her brothers, her comrades, and no girlish parts would change that.

She met a taller boy than the one of yesteryear. Naru went to him and embraced him, lifting herself gently and pressing against him. Soft skin beneath simple cotton against cotton with soft skin above hard muscles.

"Dobe." He nodded his head and felt another squeeze to her shoulder. Her grin reached her face before grabbing her cute mask and putting it on once more.

"You haven't changed at all, have you," she commented with a gentle laugh that made the three others stare at her and that precious heat behind her neck appear once more. How she had missed that special heat. Naru pushed him gently to break the woman-made tension created and there were discussion of going to the nearest restaurant to celebrate her return and the fact she would join their school.

"Scholarship," the words flowed smoothly out of her mouth, ignoring the fact of an ivory check that sat in the principal's mahogany desk. Her cute little mask did the rest of the work with a grin.

_Can you believe that the crew has gone?_

She loved her school. If it wasn't for the studies, that she was sure of, it was the friendships she began to make. Ino and Sakura had been the biggest surprise and though they were still as selfish as they came, Naru saw their benefits for the future. The rest were just people she could easily show her cute little mask to and they would easily believe it as the most magnificent thing in the world. Shikamaru would snort in dismay, but his argument fell on deaf ears.

She continued with her pre-teen request for ramen. Each time the heat in her stomach got even warmer and the muscles gently tremble just a little bit more. She embraced her sympathetic gaze and even though Sakura had a huge crush, the girl commented on her guts to want to date Sasuke despite her failures. Naru grinned, an ego welling up in her and tightening the crimson string around her wrist.

It had moved and changed color on the day she had returned and gone to surprise Shikamaru with her return first and foremost.

_And wouldn't let me sigh on?_

Graduation and China were the perfect combination. She was met with an embrace from her grandparents.

"Your mother and father would've been so proud of you."

She grinned, muscles tightening at their mention but her mask scolded her gently before she embraced her grandmother once more and bit her gum to prevent any comment. She retreated back to her friends, many making numerous plans to hang out over the summer and for her and her boys a safe trip to China to see her long-distance friends she had spent 3 years of her life with.

Naru was walked home by him, linking arms and feeling the warmth of his arm relax with her own. She bit her lip to hold back a frown at this and even harder when she saw the content features beneath his serious profile as they made their way to her home.

She asked, he answered, and before closing the door and staring at the confusion in his face she felt the heat begin to disappear.

"I should've asked the question." She murmured before picking up the cordless phone.

A sigh and an invitation to help him pack, a gentle smile graced her features before a quick goodbye to her elder brother and a grab of sweater to brace a chilly weather.

_All my islands have sunk in the deep…  
>So I can hardly relax or even oversleep.<em>

She knew one day he would say something besides troublesome. He had agreed to all her ramen treats on China but he refused quickly with an invitation to an actual restaurant. Choji and Kiba snickered in the background when he asked. With a gentle smile, she agreed as they headed out with the other 2, Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro. They were placed separate from anyone else. The waiter claimed there wasn't any room for all of them whole and moved her and Shikamaru to another section. This only made their 2 childhood friends only roar in laughter, swallowed up by a slap and punch to the head by a sandy blonde-haired friend. The smirk on Naru's face wouldn't be hidden at this.

After dinner, the energy from the meal prevented her from any reason to go home yet and the cute mask whispered appreciation at her decision. Shikamaru sighed and agreed to stay with her while the rest made their way back to the siblings' mansion. They walked in silence at the continued busting streets, loud boisterous shouts now toning down to gentle whispers. Her gaze fell into a store stacked to the roof with masks. Masks of animals, spirits, gods, and simple facial expressions. A whiskered fox-like grin caught her eyes. It was a neon orange and it was one of the most hideous things she had ever witnessed.

_I feel as if I were home some nights  
>When we count all the ship lights<em>

"Shika, isn't it pretty," she declared as she took the mask in her hands and traced the grin with her finger. She was met with silence as she put the mask on staring up at him. His features were crossed and the heat that radiated her neck before was now decorating her collarbones. The imprints on her finger could almost cut her hard skin. His brown eyes hardened as he stared at the mask before lifting his pale hand and taking it off of her.

Inches to inches. Heated mist touching her lips.

"It's the ugliest thing I've ever seen, you troublesome girl." She locked gaze with him and the strings behind her head loosened, the sound of rope breaking and an invisible clank to the marble floor. His gaze knew of her cute little mask, but he had never seen the string on her finger as it softened on the bloody finger. It had done its job and it would soon join the cute little façade that laid carelessly beside her feet.

Thank Kami.

"Shikamaru," she spoke his full name and her lips curved in a smile. She wasn't allowed to say anything else. Her lips weren't allowed to utter one more syllable.

How can it when warm hands had grabbed the curve of her hips and his lips pressed harshly and passionately against her own. Neither noticed the smear of crimson red on his evergreen shirt.

_I guess I'll never know why sparrows love the snow  
>We'll turn off all of the lights and set this ballroom aglow<em>

She could hardly hide the sarcastic smile as she stood on the bridge as she stared into those innocent black eyes. His hands stuffed in his pocket to prevent the brush of cold air and the view of bunched fists.

He rejected with a hiccup beneath the cold tone and she could barely hold back her smile. She gave a hard laugh at his weakness to hide his belief, his own heat, and his own trembles. She gave him one last rebuke to her favorite food before running off. A sweet smile that could only give one of appreciativeness as his own showed one of fatigue. Her healing finger tingled at the soft sting of winter air and she ran to her apartment.

As soft kisses decorated her naked and tan neck, it was only the light of the moon that showed that selfish gleam beneath her irises. Shushing it angrily she settled back on the goal she had accomplished as she met his lips were own and continually raked her hands through his shoulder-length hair.

_So tell me darling do you wish we'd fall in love…all the time_

She could hardly hold back the pride at her place on the pedestal as she stared at her bridesmaid. Gushes of beauty and goddess-like features decorated her in her innocent white dress. Her grandmother had tears running down with joy and Naru couldn't help but give her maternal figure a soft wink and a soft thanks. Though it confused the woman, she was too overcome with joy to think of it anymore.

She stared at her presence, the gleam in her eyes staying like a birthmark. A gleam of accomplishment she had so rightly deserved. The scar on her finger may have been the hidden price she had to pay but it was an embrace to the future she was ready to have.

Ino's excited cheer alerted that it was time and as she linked her arms with her crying grandfather, an egotistic smile graced her features like that of an angel. Everyone gasped at the vision of white and she let a small amount of air fall through her nose as she stared at Shikamaru's gaze. The mixture of awe and lust that only increased the brashness within her heart. Her eyes gave a quick scan to the raven, watching his soldier-like form and yet once again his eyes giving away his posture. His beautiful, dark, naïve eyes.

Naru's hand was pressed into his and her smile turned on of realization that she had gotten what she had wanted. The priest muttered his call to God to bless this couple that from the beginning was destined to be together. An invisible hard laugh floated between both of them, but their smiles vaporized it. With the ring on her scarred finger, her lips were once again captured and she wrapped her arms around her as the cheers of friends and family filled her.

_Time together is just never quite enough  
>When you and I are alone, I've never felt so at home<em>

Naru would be the first to acknowledge she was a fake. It's just no one had ever asked that question. She had worn that beautiful mask since the stared in the eyes of a suited man as he discussed her living arrangements. She had worn the mask to relieve the pain of losing her parents and making sure she wouldn't have to worry her family that had already lost the 2 precious people in their lives. It was that cute little mask that took her grandmother's words, to get something she wanted herself. There was no deity, no higher figure that would help her and 99.9% of the people were too stupid to even try. It was words like that that tightened the forgotten mask in China.

_What will it take to make or break this hint of love?  
>We need time…Only time…<em>

She had played a game of risk. Toying the hearts of two people, sacrificing herself to this goal, and balancing on a tightrope of truth and a façade. She had hurt him, watched as he surrendered his control and fall to his knees. She had shown know mercy and she couldn't regret it.

She had tried to put she couldn't.

Naru was selfish and if it meant hurting people to get this one precious thing that would accomplish her life since the first greeting of tiny handshakes and shy smiles then she would do anything and hurt anyone to get to him

She had wanted Shikamaru and though Sasuke had played the mindless chess piece in the palm of her hands, she had never once gave his eyes a second look as she sacrificed her trusted knight for her own gain.

_When we're apart whatever are you thinking of?  
>If this is what I call home, why does it feel so alone?<em>

She let out a loud laugh as the blonde hair stuck to her face, lowering her trembling legs and gentle lips against her forehead. The sounds of soft wails was gentle lullaby to 12 hours of labor and as she was gently placed in a sitting position her eyes traveled to a squirming bundle wrapped in blue. Daddy took him in his arms and a proud smirk graced his lips before he gently handed her to him.

Muddy brown hair with dirty blonde and twin blue eyes, a slightly more darker shade, staring up at her. Another gift from a worthy sacrifice, Naru concluded as she placed a kiss on his gentle head.

"We still going with Raiden?" She raised her eyebrows at her husband as she pressed her baby against the heat of her chest and he snuggled deeper into it. The Nara shook his head and looked with amusement in his eyes.

"You know what happens when a kid is named after a god, Naru," he chuckled as he gave her a peck on her lips, "They end up being a little bit self-seeking."

Her gaze went down to the fruit of their love as he rested against her with his father's finger in his tiny fist. Eyes full of fatigue, mischief, and wonder stared up at her. Naru smiled as her eyes went back to her husband leaning against his him as the small family held each other closer.

"A little selfishness has never hurt anybody Shikamaru."

_So tell me darling, do you wish we'd fall in love?  
>All the time…All the time…<em>

**Wow! I'm done! Writing Naru was interesting and the song just added another great element to it. The song is "Saltwater Room" by Owl City, Sasuke's Perspective song is called Stupid Boy by Keith Urban, and for Shikamaru it is "So Contagious" by Acceptance. Hope you guys enjoyed it and I think because I have ShikaNaru fever (lasting longer and almost ahead of my SasuNaru addiction) I may write more. I'm a little obsessed with FemNaru so maybe more! Hope you enjoyed it and please review! :D :D :D :D**


End file.
